©ABC 2018

Questions for discussion

African Migration

1. Summarise the BTN African Migration story.

2. Where was Hussein born? Locate using Google Maps.

3. When did Hussein move to Australia with his family?

4. Why did Hussein and his family leave Kenya?

5. How much of Australia’s population was born overseas?

a. One quarter

b. One third

c. One half

6. Where do most of Australia’s immigrants come from?

7. What are some reasons people come to Australia?

8. What is a refugee?

9. How did Hussein feel when he first came to Australia?

10. How did this story make you feel? Discuss in pairs.

Write a message about the story and post it in the comments section on the story page.

School Uniform Change

1. Discuss the BTN story with another student.

2. What change did the NSW Government make to school uniforms?

3. How will the change help girls do sport and other activities at school?

4. What are the benefits of wearing pants instead of skirts and dresses?

5. Social expectations are changing. What does this comment mean?

6. What was the first Australian state to give girls the choice to wear pants at school?

7. Who did 11-year-old Sophia write a letter to about changing the school uniform policy in

WA?

8. State and Territory governments can’t make policies for private and catholic schools. True

or false?

9. What do you think about the topic? Discuss as a class.

10. What questions do you have after watching the BTN story?

Write a message about the story and post it in the comments section on the story page.

War on E-waste

1. What was the main point of the story?

2. Give some examples of e-waste.

3. Why are we creating so much e-waste? Give an example.

4. Describe the e-waste plant that Jack visited in the BTN story.

5. What type of products are recycled at the e-waste plant?

6. What precious metals can be found in electronic products?

Episode 20

31st July 2018

©ABC 2018

7. Describe the recycling process of electronic products.

8. What percentage of Australia’s e-waste is recycled compared to Ireland?

9. Where does our e-waste go if it isn’t recycled?

10. South Australia is the only state where it’s illegal to dump e-waste into landfill. True or

false?

Check out the War on E-waste resource on the Teachers page.

Do the quiz on the BTN website.

Get your class involved in BTN’s Ask A Reporter! This week’s topic is e-

waste

US Space Camp

1. Discuss the BTN story as a class. What points were raised in the discussion?

2. Where in the US was Space Camp held? Locate using Google Maps.

3. What did Ella get to do at Space Camp? Give an example.

4. What was the biggest highlight for Ella at Space Camp?

5. In the first mission simulation Ella was the commander of which space shuttle?

a. Discovery

b. Enterprise

c. Challenger

6. Why did Ella find this task daunting?

7. Ella got to carry out a 3-hour mission simulation to which planet?

8. In the future what does Ella hope to become?

9. Illustrate an aspect of the US Space Camp story.

10. What did this video make you wonder?

Check out the US Space Camp resource on the Teachers page.

BTN Investigates – Why do we laugh?

1. Before watching this story, think of some reasons why we laugh and discuss in pairs.

2. What is one of the first sounds we make as a baby?

3. What makes people laugh? Give two examples.

4. Laughing is a universal language. What does this mean?

5. We're 30 times more likely to laugh when we're around other people. True or false?

6. What animals laugh?

7. What hormone do our brains release when we laugh?

8. Does laughing harder make our brains release more or less of this hormone?

9. How does laughing help people that are in pain?

10. What makes you laugh and how does it make you feel?

Have you seen or heard something in the news you'd like explained? Ask your question on

BTN Investigates

©ABC 2018

Teacher Resource

War on e-waste

1. What was the main point of the story?

2. Give some examples of e-waste.

3. Why are we creating so much e-waste? Give an example.

4. Describe the e-waste plant that Jack visited in the BTN story.

5. What type of products are recycled at the e-waste plant?

6. What precious metals can be found in electronic products?

7. Describe the recycling process of electronic products.

8. What percentage of Australia’s e-waste is recycled compared to

Ireland?

9. Where does our e-waste go if it isn’t recycled?

10. South Australia is the only state where it’s illegal to dump e-waste

into landfill. True or false?

Note taking

Students will practise their note-taking skills while

watching the BTN War on E-waste story. After

watching the story, ask students to reflect on and

organise the information into three categories.

What information in the story was...?

• Positive

• Negative or

• Interesting

Write a personal response to the War on E-waste story. Leave a comment on the BTN story page. Ask

students to finish one or more of the following incomplete sentences:

o E-waste is...

o I can reduce the amount of e-waste going to landfill by...

o Sending less e-waste to landfill is important because...

o It’s surprising that...

Class Discussion

Students develop a glossary of words and terms that relate to e-waste. Below are some words to get them

started.

reduce reuse recycle

e-waste landfill pollution

Episode 20

31st July 2018

Students will learn more about what

the environmental consequences of

e-waste are and solutions to the

problem.

Geography Year 4 The use and management of natural resources and waste, and the different views on how to do this sustainably. HASS – Year 4

Reflect on learning to propose

actions in response to an issue or

challenge and consider possible

effects of proposed actions.

Science Year 4 Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions. Science – Year 5 & 6 Scientific knowledge is used to solve problems and inform personal and community decisions.

©ABC 2018

E-waste research

Discuss with students the questions they have about e-waste. Some possible questions could include:

• Why is e-waste a problem?

• What elements found in e-waste are harmful?

• What impact does e-waste have on landfill?

• What do the following mean in relation to e-waste: Avoid, Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

• How important is the issue of e-waste in Australia?

• What are some of the environmental challenges regarding the consumption of electronic items? Is the

consumption sustainable?

• What can we do to recycle e-waste responsibly?

The following KWLH organiser provides students with a framework to explore their knowledge on this topic

and consider what they would like to know and learn.

What do I know? What do I want to know? What have I learnt? How will I find out?

Students will develop their own question/s for inquiry, collecting and recording information from a wide

variety of sources (internet, books, newspapers, and magazines). Students will decide on the best way to

present the information. Possibilities include:

• A `Did You Know’ Fact sheet

• Create an infographic using Canva

• Prezi presentation

Students watch the following e-waste videos to learn more about the issue.

Solving the problem of e-waste E-waste, recycling and sustainability

Gorilla Girls Recycling

1. What inspired Zoe to start Gorilla Girls?

2. Which species of gorillas are Zoe and her friends

raising money for?

3. What is e-waste?

4. What metal do many electronic devices contain?

5. How does recycling electronic items help the gorillas?

©ABC 2018

E-waste survey

Students will complete the survey below about the electronic items at home and school and how often the

items are replaced. Below is a list of common electronic items, but they may want to add to the list.

Once the survey has been completed, students collate the results and present the findings in table or graph

form.

o What was surprising about the results of the survey?

o Do electronic items need to be replaced as often as they are?

o How do you dispose of electronic items at home? How are electronic items disposed of at

school? (Students may need to speak to the IT coordinator at school or relevant staff

member to find this out).

Electronic

item Home

How often is the

item replaced? School

How often is the

item replaced?

Desktop

computer

Computer

monitor

Laptop

Keyboard

Mobile phone

iPad/Tablet

Digital camera

Games

console

Television

Printer

Radio

Toaster

Microwave

©ABC 2018

BTN – War on Waste School

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4689455.htm

ABC – War on Waste

http://www.abc.net.au/ourfocus/waronwaste/

BTN – Plastic Pollution Problems

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4853670.htm

BTN -Straw No More Campaign

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4853672.htm

BTN – TV Recycling

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2584981.htm

©ABC 2018

Teacher Resource

US Space Camp

1. Discuss the BTN story as a class. What points were raised in the

discussion?

2. Where in the US was Space Camp held? Locate using Google

Maps.

3. What did Ella get to do at Space Camp? Give an example.

4. What was the biggest highlight for Ella at Space Camp?

5. In the first mission simulation Ella was the commander of which

space shuttle?

a. Discovery

b. Enterprise

c. Challenger

6. Why did Ella find this task daunting?

7. Ella got to carry out a 3-hour mission simulation to which planet?

8. In the future what does Ella hope to become?

9. Illustrate an aspect of the US Space Camp story.

10. What did this video make you wonder?

Class discussion

Before watching the BTN US Space

Camp story, ask students to make some

predictions about what the story might be

about. Students will compare and contrast

their predictions with other classmates

after viewing the story.

KWLH

Facilitate a class discussion after watching the BTN US Space Camp story.

What questions were raised in the discussion and what are the gaps in their

knowledge. The following KWLH organiser provides students with a

framework to explore their knowledge on this topic and consider what they

would like to know and learn.

What do I know?

What do I want to know?

What have I learnt?

How will I find out?

Episode 20

31st July 2018

Students will explore how space

missions help us understand the

solar system. Students will

investigate what types of job there

are in space exploration.

Science - Year 5

The Earth is part of a system of

planets orbiting around a star (the

sun).

Science - Year 6

Sudden geological changes and

extreme weather events can affect

Earth’s surface.

Science - Year 7

Predictable phenomena on Earth,

including seasons and eclipses, are

caused by the relative positions of

the sun, Earth and the moon.

Some of Earth’s resources are

renewable, including water that

cycles through the environment, but

others are non-renewable.

©ABC 2018

Think like a scientist

Students will develop their own question/s for inquiry, collecting and recording information from a wide

variety of sources. Students may develop their own question for inquiry or select one or more of the

questions below.

• Why are space missions important?

• What types of careers are there in space exploration?

• How has space travel affected people’s lives?

• Why do we have the international space station?

• What is meant by the term ‘space race’?

Research: space mission

Students will choose a space mission to explore in detail. Students can choose one of the following space

missions or click on the link below for a range of space missions.

• International Space Station

• Curiosity Rover

• Hubble Space Telescope

• Parker Solar Probe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/space_missions

Research questions

• Briefly summarise the mission.

• When did the mission take place?

• What is/was the purpose of the mission?

• What did the mission discover?

• Which countries were involved in the mission?

• How has the mission helped us understand the solar system and beyond?

• What were some challenges of the mission?

• Include photographs and diagrams in your research

Further investigation

How has space exploration changed since the first landing on the moon. Make comparisons between now

and then. Make predictions about future space missions and exploration. Include illustrations with your

prediction.

©ABC 2018

Design and build your own spacecraft

In this activity students will imagine they are the chief

designer for an important NASA mission. Use this

NASA activity to guide students during the design and

building process.

NASA Video #1

Before students design their satellites, watch this video as

a class to find out what an engineer might to do to select

and test the components and techniques needed to build a

satellite like NASA's MAVEN spacecraft.

NASA Video #2

Before students design their satellites, watch this video to

find out some of the steps NASA took during the design

review process for the development of a new satellite.

Interactive Game: Maths skills

In this primary maths game students must captain the

Metrix spacecraft on a mission to collect valuable

minerals from the dust of a comet's tail.

Students will need to understand the metric system to

beat other spacecraft to the prize.

The game provides metric measurement tables for

mass, length and capacity to help students make unit

conversions. The decisions students make will affect

the success of the mission.

The Metrix Connect interactive –

http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1387607/the-metrix-comet

Source: NASA

Source: NASA

©ABC 2018

BTN – Mars Class

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4820451.htm

BTN – Space School

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4102608.htm

Space Camp - About

https://www.spacecamp.com/space/camp

BBC – Space Missions

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/space_missions

©ABC 2018

BTN: Episode 20 Transcript 31/7/18

Hey, Amelia here. Welcome to BTN. Here’s what’s coming up.

• We find out what to do with all our old electronics.

• The decision that’s set to shake up what some of you wear to school.

• And join us on the set of the world’s worst sitcom to investigate why people laugh.

African Migration

Reporter: Matthew Holbrook

INTRO: All that and more soon. But first today. Over the past few months people who have

migrated to Australia from some African countries have been a big topic of national debate. You

might've seen the news stories or heard many of our politicians commenting on it. So, we thought

we'd give you a bit of background and find out some of the reasons why African people have

moved here in the past.

This is Hussein. He loves soccer, playing video games, and hanging out with his friends. He was

born in Kenya but moved to Australia with his family in 2009.

HUSSEIN: My parents, both of them were born in Somalia. From Somalia they went to Kenya.

Cause there was war in Somalia. And from Kenya they gave birth to me and my brother. They

moved from Kenya ‘cause they thought it wasn't as safe. They thought it would be a bad

environment for my brother and I to grow up. So, they came to Adelaide and from then it's been a

great place to live.

Australia's kinda known for being a multicultural country. More than a quarter of the population was

born overseas. That rises to nearly half if you include everyone who has at least one parent born

overseas. And while most immigrants to Australia are from the UK, as time's gone on, more people

have come from places like China, India and the Middle East, as well as Africa.

380,000 people said that's where they were born in the last census. South Africa is at the top of the

list by a big margin, with a population of more than 160,000 here. Followed by Egypt, Zimbabwe,

Kenya and Sudan.

The reasons people come to Australia are very different. Some are here to work, or to study.

Others because they have family here, and some arrive as refugees. People who are forced to

leave their home country, because their lives have been threatened by things like war and

violence. In the early 2000s, Australia started taking in a lot more African refugees. Many of them

came from Sudan, because of drought, famine and war. More than 10,000 Sudanese people

arrived in Australia between 2001 and 2006. And over time, some brought other family members

over to join them.

©ABC 2018

And today, there are lots of African communities in towns and cities all around the country.

HUSSEIN: My first memory of coming to Australia is going to our first house. I remember that my

brother Hassan was shouting, screaming, because he was happy.

While Hussein loves it here, he says there were some big adjustments.

HUSSEIN: When we were younger me and my brother, we knew Swahili. When we made the

move, we went to kindergarten and we couldn't talk English. And they asked my dad if we needed

a translator who could speak English and Swahili. My dad told them we needed to learn English,

so by the time we learned English, we forgot Swahili.

Even though Hussein only speaks English these days, he's just started taking lessons to learn his

parents' language, Somali.

HUSSEIN: So, my mum and dad decided we need to learn it, so we're not separated from our

friends and family.

Hussein says he, and everyone else in his family, is really happy to now call Australia home.

HUSSEIN: There's no wars, it's safe. There's good schools here. Life is just better in Australia.

This Week in News

Saturday was voting day for some people around Australia because of a big round of by-elections.

They were held because of the whole dual citizen fiasco. It meant that the politicians that held

those seats had to resign and re-apply for their jobs in a new election.

Labor celebrated 4 wins keeping their seats in Braddon, Longman, Perth and Fremantle.

But it was a disappointing result for Malcolm Turnbull's government who were hoping for a better

turnout.

In Greece, the country's experienced the worst wildfires it's seen in almost a decade. 87 people

have died in the fires and thousands of homes were also destroyed. The Government is now

providing relief to those affected.

If you got up early enough on Saturday morning you might have seen the moon putting on quite a

show. It was a blood moon or a total lunar eclipse. A blood moon happens when the sun, Earth

and moon all line up and the moon goes dark as it passes through the Earth's shadow.

It means not all the light from the sun can get past the Earth to the moon and the result – well the

moon starts glowing red.

The total eclipse lasted just under 2 hours and as a bonus Mars shone extra brightly - thanks to it

being extra close to Earth. But if you missed it you'll have to wait until 2123 to catch the next one.

©ABC 2018

And the 2018 Young Archies art prize was announced on the weekend. There are four age

categories in the young Archies and this year the winning entries were:

Harvey (8) who drew his sister.

Nauen (9) who painted her mum.

Jessica (15) for this portrait of her mother.

And Charlotte (17) who painted her father.

Congrats guys.

School Uniform Change

Reporter: Amelia Moseley

INTRO: Next up. NSW has announced a big change to its school uniform policy. From now on all

girls attending a public school will be able to decide if they'd prefer to wear pants and shorts

instead of skirts and dresses. Here are the details.

Every school morning, kids all over the country wake up and put on a uniform. And if you're one of

those kids, like I was, you'll know it's up to your school to decide what that uniform looks like. So

many shades of green. Anyway, you've probably also noticed that traditionally uniforms have been

different for boys and girls. Pants and shorts versus skirts and dresses. But in some Aussie states,

those rules are changing.

New South Wales has just announced that it'll be giving girls in all public schools the option to ditch

their skirt and dresses and pull on pants or shorts or even skorts instead.

NSW PREMIER, GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: I've actually had a chance to talk to many of the

students and they've expressed to me how much they like having this flexibility in their uniform.

And now there's an opportunity for every public school student across the state to have the same

opportunity as well.

The New South Wales Premier says that allowing all students to wear pants or shorts will make it

easier for girls to get into sport and other activities at school.

GIRL: Whether or not your dress is long or short, you'd feel uncomfortable to play and to jump and

to run.

But as most girls will tell you, there can be other benefits to wearing pants, too. (Boys, listen up.)

They can be more comfy, warmer in winter, you don't have to worry about flashing your undies

(yeah, I went there.). Plus, social expectations are changing; women don't have to wear skirts

every day, so why should girls have to?

New South Wales isn't the first state to give girls in public schools a choice. WA was first last year,

after 11-year-old Sophia wrote a letter to her Education Minister asking for permission to wear

pants. Victoria changed its uniform policy earlier this year and just this month Queensland's

government announced it'll follow suit. Or pants, or skirt, you know what I mean. The other States

and Territories haven't made specific rules yet, so it's mostly left up to schools there to decide.

©ABC 2018

But it's not just public schools that campaigners are setting their sights on. Some people want

private and catholic schools to change their uniform policies too. That's not so easy because State

and Territory governments can't make policies for those schools. So, each one would have to

make its own decision about the whole pants/shorts/skirt/dress/skort thing.

Of course, not everyone agrees that governments should be forcing schools to change their

uniform policies. Some reckon it should always be up to individual schools to decide what their

students wear and that kids should respect their uniform policy - whatever the style. So, what do

you think?

JADE: I think that girls should be able to wear whatever they want because it's 2018.

JASMINE 1: I think girls should be able to wear whatever they feel comfortable in. For example, I

wear a skirt.

JASMINE 2: I wear shorts every day to our school - and I think it should be compulsory that

everywhere around Australia allows girls to wear what they want.

WILLOW: Back a while ago women used to not be given the freedom to wear whatever they

wanted and now that society has changed women are allowed to wear what they want, and girls

should be allowed to as well.

Did you know?

Did you know that many Australian schools used to have sailor suits for their school uniform?

Stylish.

BTN Podcast Promo

BTN has a brand-new podcast. We’re bringing you the hard hitting, quirky, and just plain weird

news stories of the day. There’s a new episode out every weekday. You can get it as a podcast, on

the BTN website and, if you’ve got one, on your smart speaker. Tune in and we’ll brush up on the

news together.

War on E-Waste

Reporter: Jack Evans

INTRO: These days, technology plays a big part in our lives. But that technology usually only lasts

for a very small part of our lives. So, what happens to all of our old TVs, phones and computers?

That's what this week's episode of the ABC's War on Waste is going to tackle, and we'd thought

we'd do a little investigating of our own.

Believe it or not, this is the amount of e-waste the average family collects over 10 years.

Everything from mobile phones, to laptops, monitors, heaters, fridges and hundreds of batteries.

Yup, with electronics getting cheaper new products being released and improvements being made

all the time it’s easy for our old e-stuff to start piling up around the house. And while most of it is

just pushed to the back of a cupboard to collect dust, you could actually drop it off to be recycled

instead.

©ABC 2018

JACK: And this is just one of the places where it all ends up.

PAUL: That's right Jack

JACK: Oh, hi Paul.

PAUL: How you going?

JACK: Good. So, tell me what’s going on here?

PAUL: Well this is Electronic Recycling Australia, and this is where most end of life electronic

products come. We recycle mobile phones, printers, computers, laptops, basically anything with a

cord, it all comes here, and we recycle it.

Paul says there's actually some pretty valuable stuff in of our old electronics, like copper and

sometimes even some gold. It's these guy's job to find all those precious metals.

PAUL: So, you'll have all your circuit boards all your motherboards, you'll have aluminium, precious

metals, you'll have your copper, even rubber. What we do is we'll take all the cords from each item,

we'll put them through a shredder and that shredder will separate the rubber outer coating from the

copper and that rubber coating will be put in say foundations for playgrounds.

Unfortunately, here in Australia only 8% of our e-waste is recycled which isn't much compared to

other countries. In Ireland for example 80% of old electronics are recycled. Back in Australia most

of the stuff that doesn't get recycled ends up in landfill which can be really dangerous.

PAUL: Well they can't go into landfill because of the toxic metals, the plastics it's really no good for

the environment.

At the moment South Australia is the only state where it's illegal to dump e-waste into landfill. But

from July next year Victoria will join in.

PAUL: So, Jack these are our un plug and drop e-waste collection cages. It’s just an easy way for

the public to drop off all their electrical items and it's the first of its kind in Australia.

Paul says it's really important for Aussies to make sure they're recycling their old electronics, so

they can live on and not end up here.

Ask a Reporter

Do you have a question about e-waste? Ask me live on Friday during Ask a Reporter. Just head to

our website for the details.

US Space Camp

Rookie Reporter: Ella

INTRO: It wasn't quite a trip into space but for one Aussie school girl, it was the next best thing.

Ella's just returned from Space Camp in the United States where she got to learn what it's like to

©ABC 2018

direct astronauts from mission control walk on the moon and even pilot a space shuttle. Check it

out.

Hi BTN, my name's Ella and I want to tell you about my time at International Space Camp. Yup,

space camp.

It's held at the US Space and Rocket Centre, here in Huntsville, Alabama. All year-round kids from

all over America can learn what it's like to be real life astronauts, engineers and scientists. But

once a year they invite International students along too. They travel from more than 100 countries

to take part and this year I got to be one of them.

Over the week, we got to do lots of incredible things. Like launching rockets and walking on the

moon. But the biggest highlights for me, were the mission simulations. They were held inside

mock-ups of real space crafts. We had to launch and land shuttles on the international space

station and even carry out a three-hour mission to Mars.

In the first mission, I was the Commander of the Discovery space shuttle. It was pretty daunting,

because it was my responsibility to launch and land it using more than fifteen-hundred switches

and buttons. On the second mission, I had to help two mission specialists from mission control.

Their job was to replace an antenna on the outside of the International Space Station. Then, on my

last mission, I got to experience the challenges of working in zero gravity for myself.

Overall, space camp was such a great experience and I made lots of new friends from all over the

world. But most importantly, it helped me understand the roles and responsibilities of everyone

involved in a real space mission. One day, I hope to become the very first female Australian

astronaut and experience what it's really like way up in space.

Quiz

If someone weighed 100kg on Earth, how much would they weigh on the moon?

2kg

17kg

81kg

The answer - 17kg hence why you can bounce around so much.

Kids’ Rights Promo

Would you like to tell the UN how you feel about growing up in Australia? Have your say in our

Kids’ Rights survey. Head to our website for all the details.

Sport

Geraint Thomas has won the Tour De France. The Welsh cyclist beat Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by

just 1 minute, 51 seconds and he couldn't believe it.

©ABC 2018

GERAINT: I believed I could beat everyone on my day, but to do it day after day and for 3 weeks,

which is the first time I've tried, it's just insane and it's been an amazing year.

Thomas is the first Welshman to win the title.

Aussie skipper Wendy Tuck has become the first woman to win the Clipper Round the World yacht

race.

She pipped 25-year-old Nikki Henderson to secure victory. They were the only female skippers in

the 12-strong race.

And, speaking of firsts, a team from Western Sydney University has won the American Solar

Challenge. They're the first international team to ever win the 2,800-kilometre race.

They travelled for nine days from Nebraska to Oregon in their solar powered speed machine called

Unlimited 2.0.

TEAM MEMBER: I don't really have the words. We've worked really hard for this and we never

thought we'd get here. First place against absolute world class teams it's just fantastic.

And finally, in AFL this incredible goal in a game between the Tigers and Collingwood puzzled

umpires and fans.

Was it actually a throw or a cleverly kicked goal?

Matt supports the Tigers, so he swears it’s a goal. The rest of us, not so sure.

BTN Investigates – Why do we laugh?

Reporter: Jack Evans

INTRO: Hi BTN my names Leo and my question for you is why do we laugh?

AMELIA: Ah crud, I spilt my juice all over my one of a kind limited edition jumper.

MATT: Well get another one.

AMELIA: What part of one of a kind limited edition don't you understand?

REPORTER: There's nothing quite like having a good old chuckle.

REGINALD DWIGHT III: Hello, hello. Oh well there's no use crying over spilt juice.

REPORTER: But why do we laugh? Laughter is one of those things we do without really thinking

about it. It's actually one of the first sounds we make as a baby and it happens for all sorts of

reasons. When we hear a funny joke.

AMELIA: And then I said, "These pretzels are makin' me thirsty."

©ABC 2018

REPORTER: When we're embarrassed or do something embarrassing. We laugh to diffuse an

awkward situation.

AMELIA: Is that my cupcake?

REPORTER: Or if we are tickled. Researchers think this reaction might actually be an old defence

mechanism. Laughing is also a universal language. It doesn't matter where you're from we all

laugh the same way. Which is why experts say it’s one of the best ways to bond with someone

even if you can't understand anything else they say. Studies have also found that we're 30 times

more likely to have a bit of a chuckle when we're around other people. And that could be because

laughing is contagious. Have you ever noticed that sometimes you'll starts laughing when you see

someone else laughing?

MATT: What are we laughing at?

REGINALD DWIGHT III: I don't know.

REPORTER: And it's not just us humans that laugh. Experts say that apes laugh when they're

tickled or when they're playing games. Even rats and dogs have their own form of laughter. But

what's actually going on in our brains when we laugh? Well scientists aren't entirely sure. But they

do know one thing: laughing makes us happy.

MATT: Well, duh.

REPORTER: When we laugh our brain releases endorphins, they're our happy hormones, and that

release is stronger when our laughs are bigger and our whole body gets into it. In fact, scientists

have found that laughing can distract people from pain or help people feel better when they're

stressed.

REGINALD DWIGHT III: You know what they say laughter is the best medicine.

MATT: No doctors ever prescribed me that before.

REPORTER: So, while we don't know exactly why we laugh at least we know it feels good.

AMELIA: Why do I feel like something's just wrapped up?

Closer

Thankfully that's it for today. But please tune in next week for a very special BTN - coming to you

from the 2018 Garma Festival in the Northern Territory. Bye for now.